The final days before your league’s draft day are getting closer. You’ve done the research and gathered an endless number of articles on players you can and cannot trust for the 2024 season. Your computer most likely has several tabs open on different player profiles, statistical websites and, of course, a local pizza website. Let’s go with the best-case scenario — you feel great about your research. What is your strategy? Do you feel like a deer in headlights? What do you want your team to look like? Whether it be points or category leagues you play in, you will want a plan for your team construction. Two of the basic draft strategies would be hitter-heavy or pitcher-heavy. For this article, let’s look at going with an early hitter-heavy approach in the draft.

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With your research completed and a strategy in place, don’t forget to be flexible when it comes to adjusting your pre-draft plans. You won’t necessarily have to adjust to a different strategy but you should be ready to change the players and/or positions you’re looking for, just in case. For example, you could have a late first-round pick and everyone before you has been taking hitter after hitter. If this happens, don’t abandon the hitter-heavy approach but look at a pitcher as early as the fourth round and then go back to the pitcher well in the sixth and/or seventh round. It’s important to pay attention to what other owners are drafting around you. Have a short list of about five players you want for every round. This is important, especially in the early rounds. Make sure your plan is adjustable during the draft. Your original plan might work and everything might go the way you want, but this is fantasy baseball, not the real world.

In either a points or category league, getting a five-tool player will help you. Power, speed and average will always play in any league. Going with a standard 12-team league setup and drafting in the middle, you could start with Kyle Tucker and Bryce Harper — this would give you a good start. You still could have players like Bo Bichette available to you in the third and then add more power with a player like Adolis Garcia in the fourth. Be careful with injury-prone players, especially early in the draft. A failed first pick won’t tank your fantasy baseball season but three or four in the first 10 rounds will put you in a deep hole to climb out of. Use caution when it comes to injury-prone players and young prospects. Trusting young players who are either in their rookie year or the dreaded sophomore slump is always a risky move. You would be wise to draft younger players later in the draft — round 15 or later. Of course, a player like Corbin Carroll would be worth rolling the dice for, but Elly De La Cruz not so much. This is a personal choice for all owners when it comes to prospects, but simply put, don’t have a roster filled with prospects.

I completed several mock drafts while writing this article and I usually didn’t take pitchers until the 11th round. The pitching staff looked the same for the most part in all the mocks. Still good value with those picks and I was constantly drafting the same pitchers: Chris Bassitt, Bailey Ober, Hunter Brown, Carlos Rodon, Brandon Pfaadt and Eduardo Rodriguez. I used most of my picks in rounds 10 through 20 for pitchers. I did change it up a few times and drafted a couple of pitchers starting in round eight. Cole Ragans, Grayson Rodriguez, Joe Ryan, Eury Perez and Justin Steele were always available in rounds 8-10. I went to the extreme by holding off pitchers until the mid-rounds. This just shows you can still build a pitching staff if you’d rather prioritize hitting early. Pitchers Brayan Bello, Kyle Harrison and Seth Lugo were also available in rounds 20-24. On the hitting side, Kris Bryant, Jonathan India and Andrew Vaughn were available in those same rounds. There’s still good value in the later rounds.

I have played in some points leagues where pitchers have been prioritized very early in drafts. Everyone wants the aces and will pay whatever the price. I understand your ace getting you maybe 15-20 points every start sounds good but only four pitchers last season finished with over 500 fantasy points. On the hitting side, there were 53 hitters with over 500 fantasy points. Also, remember when pitchers get hurt, they could be looking at more lengthy injured list stints than hitters. For category leagues, if you wait on pitching, you can load up on relievers to help your ratios, but make sure you understand your league rules on any innings limit for pitching categories. Whichever strategy you decide on, look for value and adjust your strategy accordingly. Good luck and swing away!

Expert Fantasy Baseball Draft Advice

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